Hi everyone. My name is Jade Calver. I own and operate Calver and Associates
Immigration Services. Today I'm going to talk to you about spousal open work
permits for spouses of people who are either studying or working in Canada.
So there are two categories so you need to be a spouse or common-law partner of
someone who is studying full-time at a public college or university on a study
permit and Canada. So you have to be married or a common-law partner of a
student or the second eligibility criteria is you need to be a spouse or
common-law partner of someone who is working full-time in Canada for at least
six months and they need to be working in a skilled position. So that's a NOC
code 0, A, or B and they need to be working full-time for that employer in
Canada in order for us to be able to apply for this spousal open work permit for you.
In terms of actually submitting the application I always recommend that
you submit the application online to Immigration Canada. I really don't do
many paper applications anymore to visa offices and I always recommend that you
apply online. As far as processing times so even if you're here visiting in
Canada, it will always be processed through your country of citizenship or
if you've lived in a country illegally for over 12 months it will be processed
there. So in terms of processing times the answer is that it differs on where
you're applying from for example the London beats office will have different
processing times than the New Delhi visa office, for example.
A few other important factors in terms of what you need to include when you
apply for these spousal open work permits with the if you're a spouse or
common-law partner of a student so it's really important that you show that the
your spouse is enrolled in their program of study and so I always
include transcripts and usually a letter confirming that they're actively
attending and enrolled in courses at the institution just to show that they are
complying with their study permit for spouses of students I also always
include proof that they have the financial resources to support not only
themselves as a student but also you when you come to Canada you may not find
a job right away. So I always show more than enough resources to support both
people especially for when you first arrived on your work permit before you
get a job. For spouses of workers so it's a little bit different we have to show
obviously as I said you - your spouse needs to be working in a high-skilled
position so that's NOC level 0, A, or B and so there are two items you need to
include. So you have to show that your spouse is indeed working in this
high-skilled position. So you do need to include a letter from the employer and
that letter needs to include a very specific list of duties so that the
officer can see that it is high-skilled work that your spouse is performing and
you also need to include at least two pay slips so from two periods of pay
showing that that person is active and they should be recent showing that your
spouse is actively employed with that employer. A few other
factors that I've found with spousal open work permits that are important to show
I like to include if it's a new marriage a lot of the times I do like to show
proof of the relationship especially through certain countries, such as
India they do like to see not only a marriage certificate but proof that it
is a legitimate marriage so it's a little bit more like a sponsorship
application. So they like to see pictures, correspondence, shared financials just to
show that you're actually - that it's a legitimate marriage that's not just
for the purpose of immigration and so that's really important to include.
I also as with any temporary residency application I like to show ties to the
home country so even though you're coming here and maybe you would like to
apply for permanent residency one day you do have to show that you plan to
return home to your home country at the end of the stay. So I like to show
assets in the home country proof of your work that you've been doing in your home
country, proof of any education. Again the more educated and as long as you are
still employed it does make you look mobile especially if you have any
international travel history that helps as well. There's one last point that I
wanted to touch on was for spouses who are the spouse of someone who is going
from a study permit to - so say for example, we get you a special open work permit for
your spouse who's studying here and that is transitioning to a postgraduate work
permit, it is important to note that if you're doing that transition your spouse
will need to show that they do have that highest skilled work job offer and
that they've been working for at least a couple of pay periods for
that employer. So he was the spouse a lot of the time we need to actually switch
your status to a visitor so that your spouse can apply for the postgraduate
work permit and then with once they start working on that postgraduate work
permit then we can apply to change your status back to a worker while
showing that they've been working for that employer and with those pay slips
So that's everything for today. For any further questions on spousal open work
permits please contact us. We're online at Calverimmigrationservices.com